Shape retaining collapsible cap



Sept. 6, 1955 H. GoRDoN 2,716,753

SHAPE RETAINING COLLAPSIBLE CAP Filedv peo. 18, 1952 ATTORNEY United States Patent .an-ass SHAPERETA-INNQCQLLAPSIBLE.cAP

Herman Gordon,v Louisville, Ky.;- Selmay S. Gordon, executrix of said Herman Gordon,A deceased The present invention relates to head coverings and more specifically p ertainsfto a cap off flexible construction` havingfreinforcement in a portionof the crown and reinforcement in the visor portion to'mai'ntain a vgeneral overall shape for the cap and so constructed that the head piece may be rolled into a compact unit without breaking the visor structure and without creasing the crown.

It is known in the head coverings to provide a cap wit-h reinforcement in the crown structure for stiffening purposes so that the crown portion of the cap has a general overall shape. Such head coverings have substantially rigid crown structures and the reinforcement is often permanently distorted beyond its elastic limit when the cap is folded or rolled into a compact assembly.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cap having a crown portion maintained in a general overall shape by means of relatively heavy hair cloth or the like arranged around the perimeter of the crown which imparts a flexible characteristic to the cap while supporting the sides of the head covering in an erect condition and such reinforcement serves to restore the crown portion of the cap to a proper shape having a pleasing appearance after the cap is unrolled or unfolded.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap with a crown reinforced around the perimeter in combination with a visor reinforced with sheet material which will maintain the visor in a given shape and permit the crown and the visor to be rolled or folded into a compact assembly without creasing of the crown and the visor so that these two portions of the head gear will present a pleasing appearance when the cap is unrolled or unfolded.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art as the present disclosure proceeds and upon consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing wherein an exemplary embodiment of the invention is disclosed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cap exhibiting the invention with portions thereof broken away to show the crown and the visor reinforcements.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

The invention pertains to a -cap having particular utility for military services or for hunters and fishermen and may be regarded as a field cap and therefore pertains to a head gear which is subjected to rough treatment and use. A desirable characteristic of such a head covering is that the cap should be flexible to Ifacilitate packing ofthe head gear in a small space and the cap structure should be such that when the head gear is unpacked the crown structure and the visor will resume a given pleasing overall shape without bearing indications that the cap has been recently folded in an indiscriminate compact mass.

Referring to the drawing there is shown at a visor of the usual crescent shape. The visor structure includes an inner reinforcing member which serves to impart some stiffness to `the visor so that it assumes a slight bowed- ICC shape.v 'lhefvisor structure is desirablyl flexible. One reinforcing material that has been found, to provide such characteristics is sheet-cork 1`1 covered on each face with cotton` twill asA indicated at 12 and 14 in Fig. 2. The fabric facings for the cork layer 11v are preferably bonded thereto byy suitable adhesives so that the reinforcing materialcomprising the cork layer 111 andthe facings- 12 and, 1:4;` impart lflexibility-to the visor structurey and at the same time'normally m-aintain thervisor in a slight arched condition forwardly of the front of the cap. The visor structure-includes an upper covering of textileV cloth 16 and a lower flexible: fabricv covering 17. The forwardy edge of" thel fabric 17 is turned over as shown at 18 and secured. to. the upper layer 16 aroundthe perimeter of.: theA visor 10.by` stitching 19t Thev crown structure includes a reinforcing member. 2li which extends, from the lower boundaryofftheicap tothe upper edgeof the` crown, asshown in.; Figi 2. T hereinhforcing member 21 is for the purpose of resiliently maintaining the sides of the crown erect and for holding a fabric cover 22 in a generally horizontal position and thereby to impart to the crown structure a given overall shape. The crown of the cap including the visor are of such construction as to permit folding or rolling so that the reinforcing material 21 accordingly has flexible characteristics. Hair cloth has been found satisfactory as a reinforcing material for use around the crown portion. One type of hair cloth containing fifty-two per cent hair and forty-eight per cent cotton with the picks of hair extending in the vertical direction has been suitable for the reinforcing material 21. It will be appreciated that other weights and types of hair cloth may be used.

The perimeter of the crown structure is covered with an outer fabric or cloth which extends upwardly from the lower boundary where it is folded over at 24 and again folded at 26 as shown in Fig. 2. The folds of the outer covering are secured to each other by stitching 27. The outer cloth covering extends upwardly from the simulated band provided by the folds, and terminates adjacent the upper edge of the reinforcing material 21. The outer cloth covering is indicated generally at 28. The reinforcing material 21 is covered on the inside of the cap by means of textile fabric comprising a lower band 31 secured to the lower edge of the outer covering and the visor structure secured therebetween by stitching as shown at 32. In other portions of the perimeter of the cap the stitching 32 secures the outer covering to the band 31. The reinforcing material 21 above the band 31 is covered on the inside of the cap by means of cloth 34 which is secured to the top edge of the band 31 by stitching 36. The top 22 is secured around its perimeter to the outer covering 28 and the inner lining 34 by means of stitching 37.

The flexible reinforcing material 21 maintains the crown in an erect position as shown in Fig. l. The flexible cork reinforcing material 11 also maintains the visor in an arched condition forwardly of the crown of the cap. Both the visor and the crown structure may be folded and creasing of the visor and the crown is impossible even though the entire cap is compacted into a relatively small roll or ball. When the head gear is unrolled or unfolded the crown and the visor structures resume the shape depicted in Fig. l.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific structural features it will be appreciated that the structure may be altered and other reinforcing materials used. Such modifications and others may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a shape retaining flexible cap, hair cloth having hair picks therein extending in a vertical direction forming a band and a foundation for a crown of the cap, a fabric ring covering an inner face of the hair cloth, another fabric ring covering the outer face of the hair cloth, a fabric crown cover, stitching securing top edges of the fabric rings to the hair cloth and to each other and securing the perimeter of the fabric crown cover to the top edges of the fabric rings and the hair cloth, a crescent, shaped flexible sheet forming a foundation for a visor, textile cloth covering faces of said flexible sheet having concave inner edge portions, and stitching securing said concave edge portions to the lower edge portion of the hair cloth and to the lower edge portions of said fabric rings.

2. In a shape retaining flexible cap, a hair cloth band having hair picks therein extending in a vertical direction forming a foundation for a crown of the cap, a fabric ring covering an inner face of the hair cloth band, anot'her fabric ring covering the outer face of the hair cloth band, a disc-shaped fabric crown cover, stitching securing top edges of the fabric rings to a top edge of the hair cloth band and securing the perimeter of the fabric crown cover to the top portion of the fabric rings and the hair cloth band, a crescent shaped eXible cork sheet forming a foundation for a visor, textile cloth facings on said cork sheet and bonded thereto, textile fabric covering said facings, and stitching securing the last mentioned fabric to the lower edge portion of the hair cloth band and to the lower edge portions of said fabric rings.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 2,150 Crondai Jan. 23, 1866 257,955 Lehmann May 16, 1882 272,147 Moses Feb. 13, 1883 873,122 Forman Dec. 10, 1907 917,210 Weiner Apr. 6, 1909 1,787,378 Hollenbeck Dec. 30, 1930 1,964,919 Knox July 3, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 463,546 France Feb. 24, 1914 

